Koch brothers moving on government

Letters to the editor on the shutdown and Obamacare, for Oct. 9, 2013

We have a legislative process that allows for negotiations, we vote on bills, the president signs them and they become law. Sometimes the laws are challenged and the Supreme Court weighs in. This is how our three branches of government works. To the debt ceiling deniers like Mr. Morici, I recommend you go back to grade school and learn about our government. And by the way, the deficit is going down and the country has been in a recovery.

Marti Craig Wilmot

Lakeside

Most not being dropped

Regarding the Oct. 8 letter “Not Working Out the way they said,” two Healthnet insurance providers, Aetna and United did provide policyholders low-cost bare-bones policies. However, there were huge gaps in these policies that resulted in lots of debt or high out of pocket costs for those who became ill with cancer or heart disease. Some policyholders went bankrupt trying to pay their medical bills. These companies stopped doing business in California, and former policyholders will go onto the exchanges.

The writer also claims that Kaiser plans to drop its policyholders and force them onto the exchange. A spokesperson from Kaiser states this is untrue.

Readers should be aware that most Americans are not being dropped from their current policies, and those who do go onto the exchanges will get very good coverage.

Vivian L. Mower

San Diego

Who’s paying for the health care?

Since the launch of the exchanges, the U-T has published a series of letters from people suffering sticker shock over the new “affordable” insurance pricing. The Oct. 9 edition published a letter from a reader who observed the opposite — letter writer Jane Tea-Hajosy points out her premiums have been lowered by “more than $300.” Two issues with this.

First, did the writer’s lower premium include a government subsidy? Knowing whether the ACA actually produced lower premiums or just lowered hers — because I’m paying part of her bill — seems a critical bit of missing information. If her premium is lower because I’m paying for it, that doesn’t mean the ACA is really lowering premium costs.

Second, she points out her 25-year-old son is paying more for his insurance at the same time she’s paying less for hers. Even if her lower premium isn’t subsidized directly, we know from the design of the ACA that it’s subsidized by her younger son. Who can really justify the older — and likely better off — generation taking money from the younger, “just starting out” generation to subsidize their own health care needs? Perhaps we should compare the net worth of the writer vs. her 25-year-old son and ask who should be subsidizing whom? Is the letter writer truly so selfish she thinks it’s OK to force young people to pay for part of her health care?

Todd Maddison

Oceanside

Watch out for the red line

Speaker Boehner, you better be careful and don’t get President Obama too mad. He might draw a red line, and you know what that means!

Steve Aldridge

Ocean Beach

On Breen’s cartoon

In Steve Breen’s cartoon on Oct. 3, he has the wrong person holding the stop sign at the World War II Memorial. It should be John Boehner not President Obama.